Unfortunately, I own a firearm

I've owned this gun for about six years. I never really wanted to be a gun owner. But when you have a taste for cool old houses in shady neighborhoods, gun ownership is almost a requirement.

This gun is a cheap automatic that was manufactured in Hungary. Apparently, it's a military sidearm known for its reliability, not accuracy. I picked it up for 99 bucks at a gun show. Gun shows are great places to buy low cost legal weapons. But they're creepy places to visit. You can tell that most people who attend gun shows are really into weapons. And I've always thought that if you're a obsessed with guns, there are some severe deficiencies in other parts of your life.

When I bought this gun, I took it to a gun range within a week of the purchase so I'd be familiar with its operation. And then it went in my night stand to be mostly forgotten. I've taken it out maybe four times since I've owned it. If I heard a strange noise in the house, for example, I'd take it with me when I investigated whether or not a night prowler was trying to get in my house. Once I stuck it in my waistband when checking out a stolen car that was dumped in my alleyway, just in case the thieves were still hanging around and had a taste for assaulting dumb ass homeowners who ventured out into the alley to look at heisted vehicles. But on the whole, I think taking a gun with you to any stressful situation is an invitation for somebody to die.

This weekend, I fired it again at a shooting range for the second time in six years. Most of the people were there for fun it seemed. One guy was there with his kid. Another guy was there was his girlfriend (scariest first date ever?). One married couple brought a case full of guns, lined them up, and blasted away at targets. To me, there's nothing fun about firing a gun. It's something you should never have to do, unless your slaying game for your dinner table. But I felt I had to get reacquainted with the gun again. This time it was for home protection purposes again, but for a reason I never imagined. Karen has a job where she comes in contact with unsavory people on a daily basis. And she got word last week that one of those people, who happens to be a very bad person, has made a threat on her life. So both of us got reacquainted with firearms. I'm sure this threat will come to absolutely nothing. I sincerely doubt that the bad guy is going to send one of his minions over to our house. But it's the kind of threat you'd be a fool to take lightly.

I pray I never have to use this thing. I wish they weren't legal to own. But that's never going to happen in this country. So you have to either arm yourself or get killed. What a nice choice.